Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Currently on Lizzie

I am quilting a queen size quilt for a client.   I can't show you the entire thing because
1) it's not done and
2) I haven't received permission to show the whole thing.

BUT, I can show you the WONDERFUL feathers I've done in one of the borders!  Yes, I certainly am blowing my own horn.  After all, if I don't, who will?  :-)

In any case, you will notice that these are not traditional feathers.  I'm still working on the process to create them.  I know there are several different approaches to traditional feathers and I'm trying all of them.  I'm not having terrific luck.  Quite a few of my feathers look like sausages.  :-(

THEN, I came across Sally Terry's "Hooked on Feathers".  I know I've written about this book before, but boy, does it bear repeating!  This book is WONDERFUL.  The resultant design looks like double feathers and the flow so effortless.  You don't *have* to mark the spine (although in this case I did) and you definitely don't mark the feathers.  These feathers are EASY.  They are FUN.  They look FANTASTIC. 

I love this technique. :-)

Here's a picture of the other corner ... I've just finished doing the last feather coming out of the corner.

As I mentioned, you don't HAVE to mark the spine, but for this border, I wanted a wavy spine.  My freeform artistic efforts leave a LOT to be desired, so I used Sue Pelland's "Leaves Galore" ruler for the wave.  Interestingly, this is not the primary intended use for this ruler but it worked out wonderfully well for this purpose.

When I got to the corner, I also marked the 45° line so I would have a guideline for the space where the feathers were to be.  Without that guideline, I know that I would tend to make the first feathers on the inside curve overly large, which would make the feathers on the other side of the curve overly small.  A small item like a guideline made all the difference for me to have those feathers look consistent.

I am sooooooooooooooooooooo happy with the way this border is turning out!
As for the rest of the quilt ... I'm *so* liking how it is turning out!  :-)

5 comments:

  1. Hey! I sure wish I could see the rest of that quilt! I love the colors!!!
    I can't wait to see it when it's done!
    Thank you for stopping by my blog today-I love seeing new people and their blogs - it gives me great inspiration!
    Come see me again...and thank you for your encouragement!
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like how it's turning out too! It's going to stunning when you're finished! Beautiful feathers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the feathers and love that green! thanks for the motivation and the tea cup information, made an icky day a little bit better! -Joscelyn

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have done a beautiful job on those feathers. And this being Sunday, wanted to wish you a happy 'talk like a pirate day!'
    cindy

    ReplyDelete
  5. aarrghh, Cindy, me comely lass! May you have fair skies and a following wind!

    ReplyDelete